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terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
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So I've been buying classic seasons (2-8) of The Simpsons on DVD the past couple weeks since Disney+ is a shit service I refuse to pay for and the version of the show they have available is butchered.

I gotta say I'm really having fun going back through the seasons, the evolution of the series is really interesting to experience again. I stopped watching the show as it aired around season 10 or 11 and had been extremely disappointed by the previous couple of seasons. Specifically the dolphin episode being where I just knew everyone who made the writing good was nowhere to be seen.

The quality of the writing dropped off so fast it was incredible. After that I just gave up and moved on, which wasn't hard to do since there was Futurama, South Park, Cartoon Network was just starting to do weird stuff at night as well and there was even Family Guy. I never tried getting back into it later and I'm not going to get into "zombie" Simpsons etc. but I did catch a few random new episodes over the years and was always baffled by what the show had become. I saw The Simpsons Movie when it came out and knew without a doubt the show wasn't for me anymore.

Going back to it I was afraid that the series would seem dated in multiple ways, and it is. But I think it's actually made it age much better. It's not just nostalgia either, it's an incredibly well written show with some amazing talent behind those prime era episodes. Sure sometimes it's a little preachy or a little sappy. Every now and then there's a Lisa or Marge episode but those actually have some of the most memorable lines and gags from the entire series in them when you go back and watch them. Seasons 2 and 8 are a little rough but they also have a ton of classic stuff in them.

Also I appreciate the heart the show had as much as the jokes and general goofiness. That's mostly gone from stuff these days. Everything is mean, cynical, greedy or just stupid. The Simpsons had all those things as well but they always balanced them with more positive aspects and remained strangely relatable. I always felt bad that my sister's kids grew up without knowing how great the show had been, to them it was never anything but a time-slot filler before Family Guy.

TLDR: Classic Simpsons is still awesome.
 

kernow

The Goob Hunter
20 Year Member
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Sep 1, 2001
Posts
34,817
Surprised me how long it took for the movie to come out, which I've not seen. Is it still going? I can't imagine what it's like now especially as a few people have passed away
 

LoneSage

A Broken Man
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57a4a0173cb0b02bb6a863728076723b7fd07f104818ec3f937910da2d223a97.0.PNG

Odd to realize there are more bad than good episodes now.

It was a real shame they don't let the white voice actors voice minorities anymore. Bye Dr. Hibbert, bye Apu.
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
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Posts
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View attachment 63588

Odd to realize there are more bad than good episodes now.

It was a real shame they don't let the white voice actors voice minorities anymore. Bye Dr. Hibbert, bye Apu.
The thing is the ones marked as "Good" are so good that even most of the "Regular" ones are bad in comparison. There should be wayyyy more "Garbage" ones on that chart.

The downward trajectory perfectly lines up with Apu getting a bunch of kids and killing off Maude Flanders and. Those were huge mistakes that showed that nobody Fox brought on board had any idea what they were doing.

Here's a breakdown of the showrunners that explains a lot:

  • Season 1–2: Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, & Sam Simon.
  • Season 3–4: Al Jean & Mike Reiss.
  • Season 5–6: David Mirkin.
  • Season 7–8: Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein.
  • Season 9–12: Mike Scully.
  • Season 13–31: Al Jean.
  • Season 32–present: Al Jean & Matt Selman.
 

Jon

Mr. Tater
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May 11, 2001
Posts
2,869
What are the numbers inside each episode mean? Neilson ratings? That many people watching it, still, is amazing.

Jon
 

Fygee

Bewbs! Z'OMG, Teh BEWBS!,
20 Year Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2001
Posts
3,985
Any comedy that has been going for 32 years and still has a 25 episode season is going to be ass. That's just the law of diminishing TV returns. The blood has been squeezed from that stone long ago. Honestly, I'm amazed it still gets the ratings needed to keep it going.
 

Arcademan

Now...It's OFFICIAL!!!
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Odd to realize there are more bad than good episodes now.

It was a real shame they don't let the white voice actors voice minorities anymore. Bye Dr. Hibbert, bye Apu.
Apu hasn't been seen since the voice change but Dr. Hibbert is still around as is Carl Carlson. Carl's voice is not too different but Hibbert is now cringeworthy and his trademark laugh sounds stupid.
 

100proof

Insert Something Clever Here
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Jan 16, 2014
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Simpsons has gotten to the point where it's outlasted the people complaining about it. Sure it's been middling-to-bad now for almost 25 years and it ceased being a touchstone ages ago but it's just a part of the cultural bedrock now. Between memes, endless references to it in pop culture and entire generations of people who've never known a time that The Simpsons wasn't a thing, the show just "is" now. It doesn't even have to be good and barely anyone needs to watch it.

I suspect it will go on until one of the main cast members dies as they're all pretty tightly knit. Harry Shearer turns 80 this year. That'll be a hell of a series finale.
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
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Simpsons has gotten to the point where it's outlasted the people complaining about it. Sure it's been middling-to-bad now for almost 25 years and it ceased being a touchstone ages ago but it's just a part of the cultural bedrock now. Between memes, endless references to it in pop culture and entire generations of people who've never known a time that The Simpsons wasn't a thing, the show just "is" now. It doesn't even have to be good and barely anyone needs to watch it.
Yeah I think The Simpsons is to Fox as Mickey is to Disney. Hasn't been relevant in eons but it's just part of the culture.
 

wyo

King of Spammers
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10,114
May as well keep going, fuck it.
 

GhostSeed

Angel's Love Slave
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I traded someone in Japan a bunch of VHS rips of these back in the day for some games, goodtimes.
 

2Heed

Big Bang Pro Wrestler
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Nov 10, 2001
Posts
877
The show started going downhill after the whole "real Principal Skinner" episode, and tanked, as mentioned above, after the death of Maude Flanders. And then Homer got raped by a panda bear, which I still can't believe happened with nobody saying, "this idea is really sick and not funny, at all."

Linda Ronstadt will always be the best guest for me, if for no other reason than taking a point-blank Barney belch with a smile.
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
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Posts
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The show started going downhill after the whole "real Principal Skinner" episode, and tanked, as mentioned above, after the death of Maude Flanders. And then Homer got raped by a panda bear, which I still can't believe happened with nobody saying, "this idea is really sick and not funny, at all."

Linda Ronstadt will always be the best guest for me, if for no other reason than taking a point-blank Barney belch with a smile.
So many great guests in those early seasons and they never felt forced or out of place. My favorite is James Woods and best guest character is Albert Brooks as Hank Scorpio.

One of the later episodes I caught had Tony Hawk in it and was just terrible. A couple years ago I saw one with Lady Gaga and it was just beyond terrible, it made me sad.
 

LoneSage

A Broken Man
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One of the later episodes I caught had Tony Hawk in it and was just terrible. A couple years ago I saw one with Lady Gaga and it was just beyond terrible, it made me sad.
That Tony Hawk episode I remember clearly. February 2003, ninth grade. It was advertised as the 300th episode and for having Tony Hawk. In the promo for the episode, Tony and Homer battle in mid-air on their skateboards a la The Matrix.

After that episode aired, my 10 year long habit to make sure to catch new episodes of The Simpsons on Sunday nights ended.
 

StevenK

ng.com SFII tournament winner 2002-2023
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And then Homer got raped by a panda bear, which I still can't believe happened with nobody saying, "this idea is really sick and not funny, at all."
That really happened?! If I'm honest that's the first time something to do with the simpsons has made me laugh in decades
 

roker

DOOM
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So many great guests in those early seasons and they never felt forced or out of place. My favorite is James Woods and best guest character is Albert Brooks as Hank Scorpio.

One of the later episodes I caught had Tony Hawk in it and was just terrible. A couple years ago I saw one with Lady Gaga and it was just beyond terrible, it made me sad.

The whole show became like the Scooby Doo guest appearances shit. Every fucking episode started having a shitty cameo by a famous celeb.
 

Arcademan

Now...It's OFFICIAL!!!
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So many great guests in those early seasons and they never felt forced or out of place. My favorite is James Woods and best guest character is Albert Brooks as Hank Scorpio.

Hank- "By the way Homer, what's your least favorite country? Italy or France?"

Homer- "France!"

Hank- "Ha ha...nobody ever picks Italy."
 

rarehero

Rotterdam Nation Resident,
20 Year Member
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Yeah I think The Simpsons is to Fox as Mickey is to Disney. Hasn't been relevant in eons but it's just part of the culture.
I guess it's come full circle since Disney owns 20th century fox.
 
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